Straus indicates there’s a budget deal

UPDATE: And here’s word from Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, via his Twitter account: “House and Senate reached an agreement to balance the budget, protect taxpayers and make a historic $15-billion cut in spending #txgop#tcot“

House Speaker Joe Straus indicated legislative negotiators have reached an agreement on the state budget, and the House soon today will consider the much-delayed revenue-generating bill crucial to balancing it.

“We wouldn’t be going with this bill until there was an agreement, so you can draw your own conclusion,” Straus told reporters, referring to Senate Bill 1811. “We’re ready to go.”

Straus didn’t give details, but one sticking point had been higher education, an item on which senators initially wanted to spend $1 billion more than the House. The House countered with an offer to narrow that gap by $300 million.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Steve Ogden, R-Bryan, said a bit earlier after leaving a meeting on the House side, “We’re working on it … We’re in better shape than we were a few hours ago.”

SB1811 “has to pass in some form in order to balance the budget,” Ogden said. The measure includes deferring about $2 billion in state school payments.

Ogden said as passed by the Senate, the bill would have freed up about $4.2 billion for use in the upcoming two-year budget period. But House budget-writers stripped out a speed-up in tax collections that would have amounted to more than $1 billion, due to opposition from Gov. Rick Perry and House members.

“They’re probably not going to need to pass one as rich as that,” Ogden said, referring to the $4.2 billion, “but they’ve got to get a significant amount of money.”

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, said earlier this week he hoped the bill would raise $2.5 billion after all amendments were considered.